ANOTHER week, another UK Treasury paper running down Scotland. It’s a wonder we pay a blind bit of notice.

The latest paper made false allegations about the start-up costs of an independent Scotland – as though we don’t already pay a fortune for British institutions, which are mainly concentrated in London with little job benefits to ourselves.

It turned out that the Treasury figures were wrong and included the costs of departments that already exist here.

But should this debacle surprise anyone? Last week we got the strongest evidence yet that the UK Treasury is a well-financed arm of the No Campaign.

Questioned by myself at the Scottish Parliament’s economy committee, the official head of the No Campaign, Alistair Darling, admitted he had regular private meetings with Sir Nicholas Macpherson, the civil servant who runs the Treasury.

Sir Nick works for Tory chancellor George Osborne but used to work for Alistair Darling when he was Labour chancellor.

He presided over the accumulation of £740billion of UK government debt, much of it run up when he worked closely with Mr Darling.

It was Sir Nick who allegedly advised his fellow Old Etonian Osborne to refuse to share the pound with an independent Scotland.

This arrogant assertion was made despite the fact that the pound belongs to Scotland as much as England and is a fully tradeable international currency that any country can use if they choose.

When Mr Osborne made the announcement, he published Sir Nicholas’s advice to provide “back-up”, something that is normally against civil servant rules.

Within minutes the No campaign waded in, with Labour and the Lib Dems lining up to agree with the Tories and Sir Nick. This ambush had been planned with precision.

Then a respected newspaper, The Guardian, reported a Treasury source saying that Mr Darling was directing UK Government policy on the matter along with an adviser to Prime Minister David Cameron, Andrew Dunlop.

It is worth noting that Mr Dunlop once advised Margaret Thatcher and played a major role in the imposition of the Poll Tax in Scotland.

Mr Darling admitted to the committee that he discussed the currency union with Mr Osborne, Danny Alexander and others.

He also said he met Sir Nicholas – who is a friend – but repeatedly refused to say what they discussed.

I then asked another witness, Blair McDougall, the chief executive of the No Campaign, what he knew of the Chancellor’s “sermon on the pound” announcement.

To my astonishment – and Mr Darling’s obvious alarm – Mr McDougall said he knew about the Treasury’s currency announcement days before it was made.

This immediately blew the gaff.

Mr Osborne claims that the currency announcement was rushed out after he saw Sir Nicholas’s advice about 24 hours before he made the speech.

But Mr McDougall’s admission suggests the No Campaign was informed earlier than that.

This looked like a fix at the time. Now we know it’s a fix.

It is also an abuse of power by a British establishment that does not have Scotland’s best interests at heart.

They will say and do anything to preserve their elite position.

That is why we should pay absolutely no attention to anything Sir Nicholas and Mr Osborne’s Treasury publish on Scottish independence from now on.